


Her Great Escape

by NeitherEverNorNever



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: I am once again asking you to listen to other Woodkid songs, I mean Run Boy Run is great and all but his other songs slap even harder, Song: The Great Escape (Woodkid), Songfic, This is a Leonard/Harold hate zone, as usual I am protecting onto Vanya because i just think she’s neat, baby’s first songfic (i’m baby), includes mentions of Reginald Hargreeves’s A+ parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29853471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeitherEverNorNever/pseuds/NeitherEverNorNever
Summary: Vanya's always been the underdog in everything she's ever done. Sidelined as a child because Reginald was afraid of her, disparaged for being the only normal one, leaving home at a young age to escape all of the abuse and pity; Vanya has always felt inadequate through no fault of her own.But some song stirs inside her, promising freedom and all the power she could ever want and more. Its power thrums in her heart, builds in her brain and pushes her hands to move.If you could make everyone who'd ever doubted you pay, would you?(a short songfic to Woodkid's song "The Great Escape")
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Her Great Escape

_Tell me that we'll always be together_

Vanya is with her siblings as very young children, with Reggie and Grace fussing over them. Grace straightens out a pleat in her skirt just before she goes out with her siblings to meet with the media. She’s too young to understand why the photographers are taking so many pictures of the nine of them, or why she’s important enough to merit it. Whatever happens, though, she always wants to be standing side by side with them, as equals. They’re her family, after all, and family stays together, right?

_We'll be riding horses all the way_

Vanya plays with the other members of the Academy. She’s in such a happy place where everything feels like a dream. She’s playing hide and seek with Five, playing with the male dolls while Allison played with the female ones, chatting complete nonsense with Klaus. Ben is constantly bugging her with some weird little thing that he could do with his tentacles, and Diego and Luther are always brooding or talking with Dad when Vanya wants to play, but she doesn’t mind waiting. They give each other furtive glances in lessons and help each other with learning their ABCs and numbers. They are one big happy family, and that’s all she’s ever wanted and more.

_'Cause boy I feel that men are meant to be_

_More than the shadows of each other_

The glass in Reginald’s monocle shatters, and with it, Vanya’s youthful innocence shatters too. During that time, Vanya watches as everything she has ever believed about “family forever” begins to fall apart at the seams. She gets put into a metal cage where she stays away from her siblings for a week. Everyone suddenly begins to give her a weird berth, and it’s after a few weeks that she finds out that unlike her six other siblings, she’s completely ordinary in every way. While Reginald feels comfortable giving her the ornate violin that used to belong to someone close to him, he rarely talks to her except for lessons that Grace isn’t teaching. Vanya gets to watch as the rest of the Academy, one after the other, get to go on missions and explore their extraordinary abilities, but Vanya watches from the sidelines, a seed of resentment growing in the shadow of what were once her peers.

_This road is finally standing up to the sky_

“I want to time travel!” Five yells at breakfast, refusing to eat his eggs and toast. He gets up from the table and leaves the Academy, despite Reginald’s protests. Vanya is secretly jealous of him; the last time she’d tried to run away, Grace had found her note and Reginald lectured her about how she wouldn’t be able to handle being an adult yet. She never says any of this out loud, despite her siblings’ pestering. That night, though, she can’t sleep and finds her way down to the kitchen. Grace is thankfully nowhere to be seen, so she steals a cookie and some milk from the pantry and refrigerator respectively, and leaves them on the doorstep in case Five comes back. And the night after that, and the night after that, and the night after that. He never comes home, and the rest of the Academy fears the worst. Vanya misses what little bit of normalcy their family had, especially when Ben dies not long afterwards.

_Boy we're free, so what is fate to say_

_How things are gonna turn out now?_

Vanya slams the Academy door, causing the stained glass to rattle a little. She’s an adult now! Why should she have to deal with Reginald’s sick excuse for parenting?! She’ll make a living off of her violin and her brilliant mind. Her steps take her further and further from the Academy and closer and closer to wherever fate decides to lead her. She goes and auditions for the Conservatory of Music the following day, but they want her to do lessons for the new violinists before they will take her on as part of their orchestra, even though she is “very promising”. Lessons become her routine, distracting her from the terrible house where she was expected to bow down to those stunted excuses for human beings. She doesn’t need to be born on a special day in history to be the best violinist in the world, and if she needs to work her whole life to get there, then so be it.

_If storms are breaking over great escapes_

_Boy, we'll find how to make it with the rain_

Despite all of Vanya’s encouragements, one of her students seemed to not be practicing outside of her lessons, which meant she was half-screeching every note despite Vanya’s patient explanations and adjustments. All in all, Vanya’s having a terrible day. And the worst part? She can almost feel the ghost of Reginald’s presence hovering over her, telling her that she’ll never be extraordinary. So she goes out for a walk on the street outside her house. She passes a pawn shop, and there’s a small old-timey typewriter sitting in the window. She can’t help it; it’s as if she’s being propelled by some need to make something of her terrible childhood. She starts writing _Extra Ordinary_ that very night, and the therapeutic value of just letting it all out onto the manuscript almost feels like letting go of a heavy sack of rocks she’s carried with her her entire life.

_This rage will lead us through the burning plains_

It’s the night before her book premiere, and Extra Ordinary is about hit the shelves, and Vanya is crying on her bathroom floor. She ran out of her medication yesterday, and in the hustle and bustle she’s forgotten to get them refilled. She can’t remember the last time that she had been off her medication for longer than a few hours, and it’s as her hands start shaking and her head starts to throb that she realizes just how much of a miscalculation she’s made. Mentally, she’s beating herself up; the day before the most important moment of her life, and she’s going to spend it a completely jittery mess, to put it lightly. She knows that this is the calm before the storm, but she’s feeling herself being tossed too and fro all the same. What she wouldn’t give for a second of clarity…and as her hand strikes the side of the sink and pats out a slow rhythm, it all ends, and she miraculously gets the calm she needs to run to the pharmacy and get the problem solved.

_No matter what they say, we're heroes, boy we'll get to break out_

“I’m sorry, but she’s incredibly talented and has put in all the work.” The musical director utters her death sentence, and Vanya gets passed over for 1st chair yet again. The implication is, of course, that Vanya could put in all the time that she wants and never reach the sheer talent that this lady has. It’s infuriating, because that’s exactly why Vanya got into this position in the first place: to prove that some lack of natural talent wasn’t the thing that was going to hold her back in life. She gets home and gets practicing until she’s got the part memorized perfectly…which is when she realizes that the sun has come up. Another day, another book reading at the local library, then lessons, then practice for the upcoming concert. Where she will be second chair, again, always wishing for the spot that’ll let her break free…

_Now we're finally standing up to the sky_

Vanya finds out on the news one day that Reginald Hargreeves, the conductor of her sad and sordid symphony, has finally died. It’s a little terrifying, because she knows that she’s expected to attend the funeral along with all of her siblings. The sour cherry on the cake is that her siblings have likely read her book and knows how much she resents them. And when she finally goes to the funeral, her suspicions are realized the second that Diego sees her and his frown deepens. As usual, he and Luther so focused on their own petty struggles to actually mourn their father. Not that they should really care about the man that stunted their growth and ruined their lives. But if they were going to go through with the affair, you’d think they’d spend the time actually paying their respects. Regardless, Vanya could honestly care less about the whole affair, until Five fell from the portal and she was twelve all over again.

_Look at me, boy, so what is fate to say_

_How things are gonna turn out now?_

Vanya has never really had the time or interest to pursue romance with anyone in years. Lots of people wanted to be with her, sure, once she had made a pretty good dime from _Extra Ordinary_ , but the depression makes it hard for her to connect well enough to get that little spark. But that all changes when she bumps into Leonard Peabody. He seems to be a bit of a shy guy, just like her, and his silly little woodworking projects are so cute. He encourages her and tells her that she’s just right the way she is. It’s the kind of love and attention that she’s been missing her whole life. It’s all a ruse, of course; Leonard is throwing out her medications every opportunity he gets, as he thinks that he can twist her against her siblings. But wouldn’t you believe it too, if you’ve been told your entire life that you shouldn’t get the same attention as your siblings because of an accident of birth and one person dares to say that you should?

_Can't you see that we're dead until we wake up_

Vanya’s been given the short end of the stick her entire life, but when the lampposts bend during her argument with Leonard, she realizes that they all lied. It’s like waking back up after the longest sleep; a part of herself that she’s never explored comes alive bit by bit. First it’s only when she’s angry; the bikers at the bar found that out the hard way. Then it’s just whenever she gets overly emotional; she isn’t sure she’ll ever forgive herself for hurting Allison. Then Leonard or Harold or whoever the fuck he is dies the bloody death he deserves, and she’s realizes that she’s been dead inside for a very long time. Now, she’s so alive that it’s dizzying. It no longer takes a moment to concentrate on the energy and focus it; now she can control it just as easily as breathing. Her thoughts ring and thrum with power, and she’s ready to take on the world.

_All your dreams are about to happen now_

The audacity of her family knows no bounds; she realizes this the second she wakes up in a cage that isn’t familiar to her but should never have been. She bangs on the glass and screams to no avail, and she’s suddenly six again, being punished for being stronger than the rest of them. It’s only when she concentrates on her heartbeat, frees herself from her prison and destroys the person that was responsible for her imprisonment that she feels ready to take them on. But family drama can surely wait; it’s her symphony tonight. So she returns home, gets changed, heads out the door (making sure to put out the light on her way) and hops on the bus to the Icarus Theatre. She knows she’ll always be the star of this show, not matter what her siblings might do. Her dream of being someone besides the forgotten seventh member of the Umbrella Academy is realized as her bow slides across the violin strings and the concert begins.

_We are racing to the break of dawn_

Vanya smiles when she sees Allison in the audience; she’s beyond elated that she lived. But she should have come alone. First the rest of the Academy shows up and they appear to be here to cause trouble, but then armed gunmen barge into the Theatre and start shooting at them. She’s too caught up in the song to even think about them; this concert has to finish, she has to complete her masterpiece. It’s all she’s ever wanted and more. Not now! She can’t fail _now_!

It’s the second that the boys rush the stage - for she can hardly see them as men, but tiny little children - that she realizes they aren’t just here for revenge. They’re here for her, to kill her. She suspends them in the air as she plays faster and higher, watching as their energy and life gets added to the symphony. It’s the height of the movement, and she can almost hear the entire silence orchestra of her past playing along with her. Nothing can stop her now, and she feels so free, so-

_Dawn_

“Bang” goes the gun and with it the world that Vanya built and the world she had doomed.


End file.
